Utair adjusts its fleet strategy

Russia's Utair adjusted its fleet strategy, deciding to only take delivery of four of the five aircraft scheduled for 2019, according to president Pavel Permyakov. The airline include three B737 MAX arriving between March and September 2018, along with one B737-800.

Future revisions may be on the cards, adds Permyakov, as the current macroeconomic forecast is unstable.

Utair will also sell five older B737-500s, as a buyer has been secured for the currently stored aircraft. The deal will reduce the -500 fleet to 27, with no plans revealed thus far for additional sales in 2019.

On top of fleet changes, the carrier is expecting losses for the year, despite a rise in passenger numbers to 7.9 million.